Section 12. Thematic reviews

12.3. Earth Overshoot Day 2024

Every year marks the date when humanity depletes its annual supply of renewable natural resources - the point when we've used up what the planet can regenerate in a full year. This critical milestone is called Earth Overshoot Day. In 2024, it landed on August 1st. Experts calculate that we are currently consuming natural resources at a rate 1.7 times faster than Earth's ecosystems can recover.

This indicator is calculated based on the Ecological Footprint – a metric that measures how much biologically productive land area (in global hectares) humanity requires to support its needs over the course of a year. The first Earth Overshoot Day was recorded in 1970, falling on December 29th. Since then, the date has been creeping earlier in the year. If the current trend continues, by 2030 Earth Overshoot Day could arrive as early as the end of June.

Отдельно этот показатель можно вычислить для каждой страны. В этом случае дата показывает, когда бы наступил День экологического долга, если бы всё население Земли потребляло ресурсы в том же объёме, что и жители данной страны.

This overshoot day can also be calculated for individual countries. In this case, the date shows when Earth Overshoot Day would fall if the entire global population lived like the citizens of that particular country.